1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for reproducing a recorded signal that are applicable to a video tape recorder or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
A narrow track pitch system has been developed as a means for improving the recording density in an apparatus for reproducing a recorded signal, for example, a video tape recorder capable of reproducing a signal recorded in a magnetic tape. With this narrow track pitch system in progress, a recorded track needs to be traced by a reproducing head at a high precision. A small allowance to a track deviation disables a recorded signal from being read out accurately when tracing a track by a reproducing head to read out the recorded signal. Thus, a pair of reproducing heads having a larger track width than that of a recording head, both reproducing heads constituting paired heads with the same azimuth, are provided, and a single track is read out by each of the pair of the reproducing heads at the same time with them overlapping partially with a difference in step in the track width direction, thereby improving the allowance to off-track (deviation of a tracing position to a target track).
At the time of a special reproducing operation, that is, when reproducing at a speed higher or lower than reproduction at single-fold speed, even when the reproducing head is comprised of two heads as a pair, it does not have sufficient allowance to the off track because the track angle and trace angle to a tape traveling direction are different between the reproducing heads. Further, with the narrow track pitch system in progress, the allowance to the off track is decreased.
If the difference in step is increased to improve the allowance to the track deviation, there is a fear that if the amount of the track deviation increases, one reproducing head may reproduce a target track while the other reproducing head may reproduce a different track having the same azimuth. In such a case, if a signal originating from the other reproducing head is used as a signal read out from a magnetic recording medium, a proper reproduced signal cannot be obtained.